Wagner James Au reports on virtual worlds & VR

Thursday, July 20, 2006

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Virtual world archicture critic and designer Chip Poutine reviews a new Second Life home with a difference-- it wasn't created for avatars, but for a real life family, a virtual model built by a Wisconsin designer who wanted his clients to "literally occupy the house, get a feel for the spaces,
and suggest changes based on their first-person evaluation." To my knowledge (and I may be wrong) this would be the first practical application of SL building tools by a professional architect. Of course, this is still Second Life, so Chip was on hand for the inevitable culture shock:

[I]t seems somewhat fitting that the clients of the House On Swan
Pond were greeted at the front door by a completely nude avatar that
was leaving nothing to the imagination, if you get my drift.